The article states that thinking about food arises appetite, but thinking of eating and finishing the food lowers appetite.

Repeatedly imagining the consumption of a food reduces one's appetite for it at that moment, said lead researcher Carey Morewedge, an assistant professor of social and decision sciences at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

For the study, published in the Dec. 10 issue of Science, Morewedge's team conducted five experiments. In one, 51 individuals were asked to imagine doing 33 repetitive actions, one at a time. A control group imagined putting 33 coins into a washing machine. Another group imagined putting 30 quarters into the washer and eating three M&Ms. A third group imagined feeding three quarters into the washer and eating 30 M&Ms.

The individuals were then invited to eat freely from a bowl of M&Ms. Those who had imagined eating 30 candies actually ate fewer candies than the others, the researchers found.

To be sure the results were related to imagination, the researchers then mixed up the experiment by changing the number of coins and M&Ms. Again, those who imagined eating the most candies ate the fewest.

In three additional experiments, Morewedge's group confirmed that imagining the eating reduced actual consumption through a process known as habituation. Simply thinking about the food repeatedly or imagining eating a different food did not significantly influence consumption, the researchers also found.

Sound familiar? To me sounds a lot like the reflection Buddha tells us to do before we act in order to develop right action, and in regards to the 4 noble truths.

This is like when I get an urge to play video games, I think about playing the game and finishing the game, by the time I'm done thinking finishing the game, I think "what's the point?" and don't start playing the video game.

Budo

“An effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely.” - George Orwell

Very interesting! I use this sort of thinking when I'm assaulted by a temptation to eat for the sensation rather than out of hunger. I'll be walking home, and then I'll think to myself 'a burger would go down really nicely right about now!' So I imagine that first bite of the burger, and the wonderful taste of the sauces etc, and then imagine it a second time, and it's a little less strong, and after about the 10th time I've curbed my desire for stimulation.

Oh man, I love food too much so I won't even attempt to do this. No, I do not stuff junk food down my mouth or fantasise about food all day. I just really enjoy the search for and tasting of food from different cultures; I also really appreciate the inventiveness and artfulness involved in the preparation of some foods. In any case, it probably won't work for me.

Euclid wrote:So I imagine that first bite of the burger, and the wonderful taste of the sauces etc, and then imagine it a second time, and it's a little less strong, and after about the 10th time I've curbed my desire for stimulation.

budo wrote:The article states that thinking about food arises appetite, but thinking of eating and finishing the food lowers appetite.

Thinking about the drawbacks of food (necessity to earn money, struggling and wars) and of eating too much and how food looks like once it is digested is even better.Eating is one of the focal points of attachment and discipline (renunciation). It is highly probable that if one fails there one will fail on all other areas as well (regarding renunciation and "the middle way").